Police: Raging West Seattle driver rammed cyclist who passed her

BY LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 12:24 am, Tuesday, October 15, 2013

A Seattle woman alleged to have rammed a bicyclist who was riding too slowly for her taste has been charged with assault.

King County prosecutors claim Erika A. Soerensen rammed the 32-year-old cyclist after screaming at him on a West Seattle street. Soerensen, 37, is alleged to have fled the scene following the July 8 incident.

According to charging papers, the cyclist was riding near the intersection of 26th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Alaska Street when Soerensen passed him in a Nisan Sentra. When Soerensen approached Southwest Andover Street, the cyclist passed her.

As he stopped at the intersection, Soerensen pulled up alongside him and began screaming, the man told police. According to charging papers, he then heard her tires squeal and watched as the car swung into a bicycle lane and hit him.

Knocked down, the man was not seriously injured in the incident. The driver then sped away.

The man was “quite sure this was an intentional act by the driver of the car, who just continued without stopping,” a Seattle detective said in court papers.

Several witnesses to the incident gave descriptions matching Soerensen when contacted by police, the detective continued. At least one provided police with a license plate number matching Soerensen’s car.

One witness told police Soerensen was blaring her horn as she sped toward the cyclist after he passed her, the detective told the court. Others recalled seeing the woman yell at the cyclist prior to the crash.

Contacted by police at her West Seattle apartment, Soerensen gave a conflicting account of her whereabouts and denied ramming anyone, the detective told the court. According to charging papers, she said she recalled following a cyclist who was riding at 5 mph.

Soerensen has been charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. She has not been jailed in the case.